Android Lollipop – new features, bugs and fixes, OTA rollout and more insightful news from Android C
There is a mix of reactions on Google’s latest product, the Android 5.0 Lollipop, from the Android community. On the early versions, users complain about the “sucker” performance while others suggest to just stay with KitKat because of lollipop’s “nasty” bugs. With the release of 5.0.2 on December 19, 2014 (the latest version), some really appreciates the consistency of the “material design” feature as well as the improved battery life. However, some of our developer friends are still unhappy with the lagging performance of lollipop on some devices.
With the Over-the-Air (OTA) rollout of the latest version still on-going, I decided to go over with some of the latest news about the sweet lollipop. I believe that some of these will have direct impact to your swiping, tapping, and pinching experience on your Android device while others are just too insightful to know right now.
The Android Team
The biggest mobile OS; this is how media lauds Android lollipop and the credit goes to the team of Google engineers based in London, UK. This is exactly the same team that fined-tuned and built Voice Search, Chrome for Android and Google Play.
Aside from the fancy jam session studio and YouTube-themed bus lane inside UK’s sweet candy factory, it’s also interesting to know how Andrei Popescu, the engineering director, and Milena Nikolic, the software engineering manager, have successfully led the team in building the lollipop. Andrei is the man behind the material design while Milena is more on advancing the Android OS features for the Google Play store.
The Bugs and Fixes
Since the official release of Android 5.0 on November 3, 2014, there were lots of issues raised regarding the OS’s stability and performance.
Many complained about the Wi-Fi connectivity. Some of our folks encountered intermittent dropping on their internet connections, particularly Nexus 5 and 10 users. While the real causes of bugs are unclear, their primary suspects are some outdated apps which are incompatible with lollipop codes.
Another recurring issue reported was the battery that drains too quickly. The culprits are still the outdated apps believed to be incompatible with Lollipop’s new codes. Google engineers are saying that Project Volta has already done the necessary improvements on these battery life issues. They’ve added a battery saver feature which can extend your device usage by up to 90 minutes.
There were also few confirmed reports related to device lagging and crashing. The suspected bugs are hiding somewhere at the Chrome browser. Some of our geek folks put the blame to the Android Runtime (ART) environment for being slow and unresponsive. According to the Android team, they also did major improvements on the ART. Let’s see then if that move fixed the issue.
The New Features
The Android website provided a full list of lollipop’s features. Some of the most promising features to watch for on Android Lollipop 5.0.2 are the power-efficient scanning for nearby Bluetooth low energy (BLE) devices, the of use Android Smart Lock to secure your phone or tablet by pairing it with a trusted device, and the state-of-the-art video technology with support for HEVC to allow for UHD 4K video playback.
The OTA Rollout
Rollout for the latest lollipop version has been completed by a few major phone makers like Sony, HTC, Samsung and Google early this year. A couple of days ago, AT&T and Motorola also confirmed that rollout notifications have been sent to their Moto X subscribers.
Many companies in the US and Europe like LG, Huawei, Asus, ZTE and OnePlus, however, are still on-going with the OTA rollout. As soon as everybody is done, we can expect more feedback from millions of Android users and developers worldwide. That’s the only time we can know if lollipop is really set to become the world’s biggest mobile OS.
At the moment, if you’re already done installing the latest lollipop version, the Android community wants to hear from you. Otherwise, just hang-on as the Android robot carrying the lollipops might have been caught on mid-air traffic across your carriers and device OEMs networks.
